Oh I completely agree! I feel like I’m basically forced to job hop if I want to keep up with inflation and increase my salary in a meaningful way. At all my last jobs(except for my current one) we were constantly promised raises if we could meet some profit goal that was completely unattainable. If the company did poorly, you get nothing because “we all need to tighten our belts”. But when the company does well you get nothing(or very little) for any number of excuses or metrics that weren’t met. Why be loyal to a company when you get nothing(not even loyalty) in return?
I think at some point a positive feed back loop formed where companies stopped providing incentives to stay with the company which caused people to job hop more frequently which then reinforced the companies feeling that investing in employees isn’t worth it. Which just leads to more incentive to job hop.
Also, one person in HR admitted to me that at some of those ‘business breakfasts’ companies discuss freely what they will pay or won’t pay for such-and-such a skill… and actively collude to make sure no one in that region of the state pays more than that for ‘skill set X’ . There’s even bragging rights if you can lower the bar (pay per hour).
There would also be less job hopping if the internal pay market was considered close to the external one. But companies can give tiny raises to most of their employees because they suspect they won’t leave, and are forced to give big salaries in order to hire. That means good people who don’t get big raises leave, and the low performers stay.
I’ve heard people claim that the lack of education is to keep people from leaving by making sure they don’t have useful skills in the market. The downside of that is pretty obvious. But there was still lots of training - and lots of turnover - in the late '90s.
Thinking long term? That’s crazy talk. I’ve found that most managers have no idea what people 2 or 3 levels down do, unless they are stars, and really no idea of the kind of specialized business knowledge they accumulate and don’t document which really screws the company when they leave. I’ve got some examples …
I’m ok with my salary. Not like I wouldn’t want more. But for me, I’d rather have a more meaningful role with a company I can grow with over time.
I think so many people are frustrated with their jobs now, it has enabled entire industries of bullshit artists dedicated to convincing people to pay money to have someone update their resume or LinkedIn profile or show them the “secret” techniques for finding six figure jobs.
I’m not going to say EVERY company and industry is making a poor decision by doing that because I don’t knew every company and industry, but I’ve worked a number of different places and it’s a toxic attitude.
One reason I like my current company (although its flaws are many, because it was created and run by humans, and still infested with them ) is that, because it’s still privately owned, it’s not beholder to shareholders and DOES make long term plans. It also recruits from inside as well as hiring from outside and has a program in place where, if he or she is willing to bust their ass, a lowly shelf-stocker can work up into management and wind up running an entire store (I know a couple of people who have done just that). Up to at least the store director level, management level folks are required to learn to do every job in the store so they do, in fact, know what it’s like doing those jobs. They still have an actual tuition reimbursement program. I’ve been part of opening a new store several times where employees with experience are sent to help train the new employees at the new store which costs a butt-load of money what will housing people in hotels for 2-3 weeks, giving the per diem to eat, and also paying their regular wages for the work they do. The place is full of not only new/temporary hires (some positions are good for second job/summer/seasonal work) but folks with 10-20 or more years in the company, which these days is unusual. They also do wacky shit like hire folks in their 50’s or even older. Post Great Recession they picked up a lot of folks like me who lost careers to advancing technology and downsizing.
So, while a lot of store in our industry have either downsized or closed, the company I work for is expanding as well as showing a profit.
But then, one of the two original owners is still alive (in her late 90’s) and most of the top guys are her kids, who grew up stocking toilet paper on shelves before the family empire became a family empire. Og knows what will happen when the next generation takes over, but given the longevity of these people that will most likely be after I myself retire.
It’s not a glamorous job but it pays my rent and other bills, and I’ve my retirement savings started up again so maybe I’ll be able to have a comfortable old age.
I’m not going to say EVERY company and industry is making a poor decision by doing that because I don’t knew every company and industry, but I’ve worked a number of different places and it’s a toxic attitude.
One reason I like my current company (although its flaws are many, because it was created and run by humans, and still infested with them ) is that, because it’s still privately owned, it’s not beholder to shareholders and DOES make long term plans. It also recruits from inside as well as hiring from outside and has a program in place where, if he or she is willing to bust their ass, a lowly shelf-stocker can work up into management and wind up running an entire store (I know a couple of people who have done just that). Up to at least the store director level, management level folks are required to learn to do every job in the store so they do, in fact, know what it’s like doing those jobs. They still have an actual tuition reimbursement program. I’ve been part of opening a new store several times where employees with experience are sent to help train the new employees at the new store which costs a butt-load of money what will housing people in hotels for 2-3 weeks, giving the per diem to eat, and also paying their regular wages for the work they do. The place is full of not only new/temporary hires (some positions are good for second job/summer/seasonal work) but folks with 10-20 or more years in the company, which these days is unusual. They also do wacky shit like hire folks in their 50’s or even older. Post Great Recession they picked up a lot of folks like me who lost careers to advancing technology and downsizing.
So, while a lot of store in our industry have either downsized or closed, the company I work for is expanding as well as showing a profit.
But then, one of the two original owners is still alive (in her late 90’s) and most of the top guys are her kids, who grew up stocking toilet paper on shelves before the family empire became a family empire. Og knows what will happen when the next generation takes over, but given the longevity of these people that will most likely be after I myself retire.
It’s not a glamorous job but it pays my rent and other bills, and I’ve my retirement savings started up again so maybe I’ll be able to have a comfortable old age.
Yes. There is the concept that you can’t make a baby in a month by fucking the shit out of nine women. Similarly, a lot of dumb leadership in a lot of companies think that they can magically fix shitty projects by bringing on some superstar. Or that you can bring people on and off teams like you are swapping out computer hardware.
People aren’t computer hardware. Whenever you add or remove people from a team, you not only have to get them up to speed on whatever it is they are supposed to be working on. You have to figure out how to get them to work well with the rest of the team.
But because those costs are hidden, they don’t look as good on management reports as firing people.
I received a call for an Engagement Manager position from what sounds like a small Indian outsourcing firm (although they are based in New Jersey). Aside from the client being a hour and a half commute each way, their Glassdoor reviews make it sound like a pretty shitty place to work. I asked the recruiter about that and apparently sometimes people have a negative experience with a client and they have to let them go if they can’t place them on another client.
Even the fact that they are hiring an Engagement Manager for a specific client seems odd to me. Am I supposed to just show up to the client with whatever minimal onboarding they give me and start running things and selling their services?
) is that, because it’s still privately owned, it’s not beholder to shareholders and DOES make long term plans. It also recruits from inside as well as hiring from outside and has a program in place where, if he or she is willing to bust their ass, a lowly shelf-stocker can work up into management and wind up running an entire store (I know a couple of people who have done just that). Up to at least the store director level, management level folks are required to learn to do every job in the store so they do, in fact, know what it’s like doing those jobs. They still have an actual tuition reimbursement program. I’ve been part of opening a new store several times where employees with experience are sent to help train the new employees at the new store which costs a butt-load of money what will housing people in hotels for 2-3 weeks, giving the per diem to eat, and also paying their regular wages for the work they do. The place is full of not only new/temporary hires (some positions are good for second job/summer/seasonal work) but folks with 10-20 or more years in the company, which these days is unusual. They also do wacky shit like hire folks in their 50’s or even older. Post Great Recession they picked up a lot of folks like me who lost careers to advancing technology and downsizing.